World Bank Blogshttp://blogs.worldbank.org/planet.xml
IBRD and IDA: Working for a World Free of Poverty.enWeekly wire: The global forumhttp://blogs.worldbank.org/publicsphere/weekly-wire-global-forum-322
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<a href="http://blogs.worldbank.org/publicsphere/files/publicsphere/weekly_wire_8.jpg" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><img alt="" height="178" src="http://blogs.worldbank.org/publicsphere/files/publicsphere/weekly_wire_8.jpg" style="float:right" title="" width="180" /></a><strong>These are some of the views and reports relevant to our readers that caught our attention this week.</strong><br />
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<strong><a href="https://blog.bufferapp.com/state-of-social-2018?utm_source=newsletter&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_campaign=ind_awe_jan18&amp;mc_cid=19873f2661&amp;mc_eid=2d406bead1" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">The State of Social 2018 Report: Your Guide to Latest Social Media Marketing Research [New Data]</a></strong><br />
<strong>Buffer</strong><br />
What’s in store for the social media industry in 2018? The way consumers use social media channels is constantly evolving and as marketers and entrepreneurs, we need to adapt to these changes. To better understand these changes, plus what’s ahead for 2018 and beyond we teamed up with Social Media Week to collect data from over 1,700 marketers and create the State of Social Media 2018 report. The report shows us how marketers, from businesses of all sizes, are approaching social media marketing.<br />
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<strong><a href="https://marketbrief.edweek.org/marketplace-k-12/world-bank-unveils-new-tool-for-measuring-countries-ed-performance-and-economic-growth/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">World Bank’s ‘Global Dataset’ Offers New Way for Comparing Countries’ Educational Performance</a></strong><br />
<strong>Market Brief Ed Week</strong><br />
For years, efforts to explore and compare the educational performance of impoverished countries–and by implication, their economic potential–have been stymied by a lack of useful data. An ambitious new analysis by the World Bank aims to change that. A “global dataset” unveiled by the international development organization uses statistical methods to put the results of much-publicized international tests like the PISA and TIMSS–which many poor nations do not take part in–on a comparable scale as regional exams commonly used by developing countries. The result is a new method for comparing the test performance of rich and poor nations that World Bank researchers say hasn’t been accomplished before.<br />
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<strong><a href="https://www.csis.org/analysis/blockchains-will-change-way-world-votes" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Blockchains Will Change the Way the World Votes</a></strong><br />
<strong>Center for Strategic and International Studies</strong><br />
Amid the clamor around bitcoin’s ascendant (now descendant) value, the potential of a far greater contributor to society has been clouded. Bitcoin—which has in recent months been both the godsend and the bane of speculative investors around the world—is made possible by its underlying blockchain technology. Lauded as a technological innovation on the same magnitude as the internet, blockchains at their simplest are diffuse electronic ledgers that garner efficiency, transparency, and remarkable security through a decentralized structure. You don’t have to understand everything about the underlying technology to see how such a system could have a significant impact on our lives. Blockchains are now being adopted globally for things as diverse as smart contracts, property rights, health care, and humanitarian assistance. But, blockchains also have enormous potential to revolutionize the way elections are conducted.<br />
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<strong><a href="https://www.odi.org/publications/11039-new-global-agenda-and-future-multilateral-development-bank-system" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">The new global agenda and the future of the multilateral development bank system</a></strong><br />
<strong>Overseas Development Institute </strong><br />
The new global agenda, with Agenda 2030 at its core, is ambitious, comprehensive and universal. The three central goals now are to reignite growth, deliver on the sustainable development goals, and meet the ambitions of the Paris Agreement aimed at mitigating climate change and adapting to its effects. Achieving these goals will require a significant scaling up and reorientation of investments, especially for sustainable infrastructure and human development. Implementing this agenda is urgent, as the world is witnessing the largest wave of urban expansion in history and more infrastructure than the world’s existing stock will come on stream over the next 15 years. This is also the last opportunity to manage remaining significant demographic transitions.<br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/fdecomite/2183144613/in/set-72157603650204278/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Photo credit: Flickr user fdecomit</a><br />
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Thu, 22 Feb 2018 16:08:00 -0500Roxanne BauerWeekly wire: The global forumhttp://blogs.worldbank.org/publicsphere/weekly-wire-global-forum-321
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<a href="http://blogs.worldbank.org/publicsphere/files/publicsphere/weekly_wire_8.jpg" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><img alt="" height="178" src="http://blogs.worldbank.org/publicsphere/files/publicsphere/weekly_wire_8.jpg" style="padding:2px; border:1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); border-image:none; vertical-align:bottom; max-width:none; float:right" title="" width="180" /></a><strong>These are some of the views and reports relevant to our readers that caught our attention this week.</strong><br />
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<strong><a href="https://www.npr.org/sections/parallels/2017/12/05/568288743/is-life-better-now-than-50-years-ago-the-answer-may-depend-on-the-economy?ft=nprml&amp;f" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Is Life Better Now Than 50 Years Ago? The Answer May Depend On The Economy</a></strong></p>
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<strong>National Public Radio, USA</strong></div>
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The way people perceive their country's economic conditions plays a big role in whether they view their lives more positively now compared with the past, according to a study released Tuesday by the Pew Research Center. Of the nearly 43,000 people surveyed in 38 countries in Asia, Europe, the Middle East, Africa and North and South America, Vietnam had the most positive self-assessment: Eighty-eight percent of respondents said life is better today in their country than it was a half-century ago.</div>
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<strong><a href="https://theconversation.com/developing-countries-could-get-sick-before-they-get-rich-policy-can-help-87391" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Developing countries could get sick before they get rich. Policy can help</a></strong></div>
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<strong>The Conversation</strong></div>
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Improved human well-being is one of the modern era’s greatest triumphs. The age of plenty has also led to an unexpected global health crisis: two billion people are either overweight or obese. Developed countries have been especially susceptible to unhealthy weight gain, a trend that could be considered the price of abundance. However, developing countries are now facing a similar crisis.</div>
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<strong><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/gallery/2017/dec/01/living-with-hiv-and-aids-in-africa-in-pictures" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">'Society needs to learn to accept': living with HIV and Aids in Africa – in pictures</a></strong></div>
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<strong>The Guardian</strong></div>
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Across Africa, girls and young women are disproportionately affected by HIV and Aids. Treatment remains out of reach for many pregnant women and mothers who have the virus, with stigma and discrimination common. Photographer Karin Schermbrucker spent a decade travelling with Unicef, documenting the courage of such women</div>
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<strong><a href="https://www.odi.org/publications/10957-10-things-know-about-leave-no-behind" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">10 things to know about 'leave no one behind'</a></strong></div>
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<strong>ODI</strong></div>
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The rallying cry of the Sustainable Development Goals is to ‘leave no one behind’ by 2030 – and to reach those who are furthest behind first. Around the world, amid widespread progress, many people remain marginalised and extremely poor. This may be due to where they live, or aspects of who they are – such as whether they have a disability, what their migratory status is, or their age, race, ethnicity or gender. These inequalities can be overlooked when progress is measured in averages across the whole population, as was the case with the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Entire countries can also be left behind, particularly those facing obstacles such as land-locked status, climate stress or a history of conflict and fragility. Understanding where there are gaps, and taking early and sustained action to address them is critical if we are to translate this ambitious ‘leave no one behind’ commitment into action. Here are 10 things to know about realising the ‘leave no one behind’ vision by 2030.</div>
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/fdecomite/2183144613/in/set-72157603650204278/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Photo credit: Flickr user fdecomit</a><br />
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Thu, 07 Dec 2017 13:07:00 -0500Roxanne BauerWeekly wire: The global forumhttp://blogs.worldbank.org/publicsphere/weekly-wire-global-forum-320
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<a href="http://blogs.worldbank.org/publicsphere/files/publicsphere/weekly_wire_8.jpg" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><img alt="" height="178" src="http://blogs.worldbank.org/publicsphere/files/publicsphere/weekly_wire_8.jpg" style="padding:2px; border:1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); border-image:none; vertical-align:bottom; max-width:none; float:right" title="" width="180" /></a><strong>These are some of the views and reports relevant to our readers that caught our attention this week.</strong></p>
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<strong><a href="https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/financial-services/our-insights/remaking-the-bank-for-an-ecosystem-world" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Remaking the bank for an ecosystem world</a></strong></div>
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<strong>McKinsey &amp; Company</strong></div>
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Global banking-industry performance has been lackluster. Now comes the hard part: the rise of nonbanking platform companies targeting the most profitable parts of the banking value chain.</div>
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<strong><a href="http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=58153#.Wh2YFdCnGUm" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Four Decades of Cross-Mediterranean Undocumented Migration to Europe</a></strong></div>
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<strong>International Organization for Migration</strong></div>
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Crossing the Mediterranean to Europe is “by far the world's deadliest” journey for migrants, with at least 33,761 reported to have died or gone missing between 2000 and 2017, a United Nations report finds. The report, released Friday from the International Organization for Migration (IOM), notes the highest number of fatalities, at 5,096, was recorded in 2016, when the short and relatively less dangerous route from Turkey to Greece was shut, following the European Union-Turkey deal.<br />
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<strong><a href="https://www.globalnutritionreport.org/files/2017/11/Report_2017.pdf" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Global Nutrition Report 2017: Nourishing the SDGs</a></strong></div>
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<strong>Global Nutrition Report</strong></div>
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Almost every country in the world now faces a serious nutrition-related challenge whether stemming from undernutrition or overweight and obesity, with 1 in 3 people affected. The report focuses on how improving nutrition can have a powerful multiplier effect across the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Indeed, it indicates that it will be a challenge to achieve any Sustainable Development Goal without addressing nutrition.</div>
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<strong><a href="https://www.odi.org/comment/10583-evidence-isn-t-just-policy-makers" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Evidence isn’t just for policy-makers</a></strong></div>
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<strong>ODI</strong></div>
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Influencing a key policy decision is often seen as the holy grail of international development research. We all want positive change and policy influence is a really important part of that process. But the idea that this is all that matters when it comes to evidence use in international development is a myth. Sustainable development progress requires evidence-informed decision-making throughout policy and practice.</div>
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<strong><a href="http://twiplomacy.com/blog/twiplomacy-study-2017/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Twiplomacy Study 2017</a><br />
Twiplomacy</strong><br />
<span>Social media has become diplomacy’s significant other. It has gone from being an afterthought to being the very first thought of world leaders and governments across the globe, as audiences flock to their Twitter newsfeeds for the latest news and statements. This worldwide embrace of online channels has brought with it a wave of openness and transparency that has never been experienced before. Social media provides a platform for unconditional communication, and has become a communicator’s most powerful tool. Twitter, in particular, has become a diplomatic barometer, a tool used to analyze and forecast international relations.</span><br />
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<strong><a href="https://www.devex.com/news/opinion-how-cross-sector-collaborations-can-accelerate-progress-toward-gender-equality-91608" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Opinion: How cross-sector collaborations can accelerate progress toward gender equality</a></strong></div>
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<strong>Devex</strong></div>
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It is increasingly acknowledged that the global gender gap is severe, with major negative economic and social consequences, and that accelerating progress toward gender parity has enormous benefits. Yet progress has been slow. One answer is collaborations — partnerships for parity — but they have to be put together carefully if they are to be effective.</div>
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/fdecomite/2183144613/in/set-72157603650204278/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Photo credit: Flickr user fdecomit</a><br />
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Thu, 30 Nov 2017 11:30:00 -0500Roxanne BauerWeekly wire: The global forumhttp://blogs.worldbank.org/publicsphere/weekly-wire-global-forum-319
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<a href="http://blogs.worldbank.org/publicsphere/files/publicsphere/weekly_wire_8.jpg" rel="nofollow" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; outline: 0px; border: 0px currentColor; border-image: none; color: rgb(153, 0, 0); text-transform: none; line-height: inherit; text-indent: 0px; letter-spacing: normal; font-family: Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; word-spacing: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: normal; orphans: 2; widows: 2; font-stretch: inherit; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-numeric: inherit;" target="_blank"><img alt="" class="flipboard-image" height="178" src="http://blogs.worldbank.org/publicsphere/files/publicsphere/weekly_wire_8.jpg" style="font:inherit; margin:0px 8px 0px 0px !important; padding:2px; outline:0px; border:1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); border-image:none; height:auto !important; vertical-align:bottom; max-width:none; font-size-adjust:inherit; font-stretch:inherit; float:right" title="" width="180" /></a><strong style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; outline: 0px; border: 0px currentColor; border-image: none; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); text-transform: none; line-height: inherit; text-indent: 0px; letter-spacing: normal; font-family: Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-weight: bold; word-spacing: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: normal; orphans: 2; widows: 2; font-stretch: inherit; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial; font-variant-numeric: inherit;">These are some of the views and reports relevant to our readers that caught our attention this week.</strong><br />
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<strong><a href="https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/handle/10986/28482" target="_blank">Global Financial Development Report 2017/2018: Bankers without Borders</a><br />
World Bank</strong><br />
Successful international integration has underpinned most experiences of rapid growth, shared prosperity, and reduced poverty. Perhaps no sector of the economy better illustrates the potential benefits--but also the perils--of deeper integration than banking. International banking may contribute to faster growth in two important ways: first, by making available much needed capital, expertise, and new technologies; and second, by enabling risk-sharing and diversification. &nbsp;But international banking is not without risks. The global financial crisis vividly demonstrated how international banks can transmit shocks across the globe. The Global Financial Development Report 2017/2018 brings to bear new evidence on the debate on the benefits and costs of international banks, particularly for developing countries. It provides evidence-based policy guidance on a range of issues that developing countries face. Countries that are open to international banking can benefit from global flows of funds, knowledge, and opportunity, but the regulatory challenges are complex and, at times, daunting.<br />
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<strong><a href="https://www.unicef.org/publications/index_101397.html" target="_blank">A Familiar Face: Violence in the lives of children and adolescents</a><br />
UNICEF</strong><br />
This report presents the most current data on four specific forms of violence – violent discipline and exposure to domestic abuse during early childhood; violence at school; violent deaths among adolescents; and sexual violence in childhood and adolescence. The statistics reveal that children experience violence across all stages of childhood, in diverse settings, and often at the hands of the trusted individuals with whom they interact daily. The report concludes with specific national actions and strategies that UNICEF has embraced to prevent and respond to violence against children.<br />
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<strong><a href="https://www.itu.int/en/ITU-D/Statistics/Pages/publications/mis2017.aspx" target="_blank">Measuring the Information Society Report</a><br />
International Telecommunication Union</strong><br />
The 9th edition of the Measuring the Information Society Report, an annual report published by ITU since 2009, features key ICT data and benchmarking tool to measure the information society, the ICT Development Index (IDI). The report presents a quantitative analysis of the information society and highlight new and emerging trends and measurement issues. The MISR 2017 assesses IDI findings at the regional level and highlight countries that rank at the top of the IDI and those that have improved their position in the overall IDI rankings most dynamically since 2016. It also uses the findings of the IDI to analyze trends and developments in the digital divide. It includes for the first time individual country profiles providing a snapshot of the latest ICT landscape and efforts made to increase the ICT access, use and proficiency of their citizens. The analytical report is&nbsp;complemented by a series of statistical tables providing country-level data for the indicators included in the IDI.&nbsp;<br />
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<strong><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2017/nov/10/terrorism-makes-it-difficult-for-banks-to-get-your-money-to-people-in-crisis" target="_blank">Terrorism makes it harder to get aid money to people in crisis</a><br />
The Guardian</strong><br />
In a crisis, money matters: for water, food and shelter, for people fleeing war or famine, or for medical supplies in dealing with an epidemic. Yet getting money to the frontline when people are suffering is becoming harder.<br />
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<strong><a href="https://www.wired.com/story/sanfrancisco-smaller-firetrucks/" target="_blank">The Littler Fire Engine That Could Make Cities Safer</a><br />
Wired</strong><br />
In theory, creating a safer street should be easy: Make life harder for cars and easier for people. That means lowering the speed limit, building speed bumps, traffic circles, and bulb-outs, which narrow roads and force drivers to be more cautious, and creating special, separated spaces in the street for drivers, cyclists, and walkers. Firefighters, though—they just want to get where they're going, fast.<br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/fdecomite/2183144613/in/set-72157603650204278/" rel="nofollow" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; outline: 0px; border: 0px currentColor; border-image: none; color: rgb(153, 0, 0); text-transform: none; line-height: inherit; text-indent: 0px; letter-spacing: normal; font-family: Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; word-spacing: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: normal; orphans: 2; widows: 2; font-stretch: inherit; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-numeric: inherit;" target="_blank">Photo credit: Flickr user fdecomit</a><br style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); text-transform: none; text-indent: 0px; letter-spacing: normal; font-family: Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; word-spacing: 0px; white-space: normal; orphans: 2; widows: 2; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;" />
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Thu, 16 Nov 2017 13:11:50 -0500Roxanne BauerWeekly wire: The global forumhttp://blogs.worldbank.org/publicsphere/weekly-wire-global-forum-318
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<a href="http://blogs.worldbank.org/publicsphere/files/publicsphere/weekly_wire_8.jpg" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><img alt="" height="178" src="http://blogs.worldbank.org/publicsphere/files/publicsphere/weekly_wire_8.jpg" style="padding:2px; border:1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); border-image:none; vertical-align:bottom; max-width:none; float:right" title="" width="180" /></a><strong>These are some of the views and reports relevant to our readers that caught our attention this week.</strong><br />
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<strong><a href="https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/handle/10986/28608" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Doing Business 2018 : Reforming to Create Jobs</a><br />
World Bank Development Economics</strong><br />
Fifteen in a series of annual reports comparing business regulation in 190 economies, Doing Business 2018 measures aspects of regulation affecting 10 areas of everyday business activity: • Starting a business • Dealing with construction permits • Getting electricity • Registering property • Getting credit • Protecting minority investors • Paying taxes • Trading across borders • Enforcing contracts • Resolving insolvency These areas are included in the distance to frontier score and ease of doing business ranking. Doing Business also measures features of labor market regulation, which is not included in these two measures. The report updates all indicators as of June 1, 2017, ranks economies on their overall “ease of doing business”, and analyzes reforms to business regulation – identifying which economies are strengthening their business environment the most. Doing Business illustrates how reforms in business regulations are being used to analyze economic outcomes for domestic entrepreneurs and for the wider economy. It is a flagship product produced in partnership by the World Bank Group that garners worldwide attention on regulatory barriers to entrepreneurship. More than 137 economies have used the Doing Business indicators to shape reform agendas and monitor improvements on the ground. In addition, the Doing Business data has generated over 2,182 articles in peer-reviewed academic journals since its inception.<br />
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<strong><a href="https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/capital-projects-and-infrastructure/our-insights/navigating-the-digital-future-the-disruption-of-capital-projects" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Navigating the digital future: The disruption of capital projects</a><br />
McKinsey &amp; Company</strong><br />
Productivity in the construction sector has stagnated for decades, with the average capital project reaching completion 20 months behind schedule and 80 percent over budget. Some overruns result from increased project complexity and scale, but another factor also looms large: all stakeholders in the capital-projects ecosystem—project owners, contractors, and subcontractors—have resisted adopting digital tools and platforms. These include advanced analytics, automation, robotics, 5-D building information modeling (BIM), and online document-management or data-collection systems. Meanwhile, companies in sectors ranging from government to manufacturing have significantly reduced costs and schedules by aggressively pursuing digital solutions.</p>
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<strong><a href="https://giwps.georgetown.edu/the-index/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Women, Peace, and Security Index</a><br />
Georgetown Institute for Women, Peace, and Security</strong><br />
The WPS Index offers a more comprehensive measure of women's wellbeing by capturing both peace and security—and women’s inclusion and justice—for the first time ever. In partnership with the Peace Research Institute of Oslo, we draw on recognized international data sources to rank 153 countries, covering more than 98 percent of the world’s population. The associated tools and analysis highlight key achievements and deficits from each country.<br />
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<strong><a href="https://www.wired.com/story/digital-solutions-can-help-even-the-poorest-nations-prosper/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Digital Solutions Can Help Even the Poorest Nations Prosper</a><br />
Wired</strong><br />
AMONG THE SPENDING choices for governments of poorer nations, kick-starting the technological revolution may at first seem like a low priority. Compared with critical infrastructure, healthcare, or schools, improved digital access and less waiting times for birth certificates feel like luxuries that should come further down the road, or perhaps be left to private enterprise. But there is reason to rethink this. Fast economic growth is the best way to reduce poverty. A recent Tufts University study found that digitization is one of the biggest drivers of a nation’s economic success. The report argues that that economic growth is mostly achieved by careful policy-setting—in other words, it’s best driven by government.<br />
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<strong><a href="http://unctad.org/en/pages/PublicationWebflyer.aspx?publicationid=1852" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Trade and Development Report 2017</a><br />
UNCTAD</strong><br />
The global economy appears stuck on its path to recovery. A new UNCTAD report, the Trade and Development Report, 2017: Beyond Austerity – Towards a Global New Deal, sets out an ambitious alternative policy route to build more inclusive and caring economies. Launching the report, UNCTAD Secretary-General Mukhisa Kituyi said, “A combination of too much debt and too little demand at the global level has hampered sustained expansion of the world economy”.&nbsp; The report states that people should be put before profits, calling for a twenty-first century makeover to offer a global “new deal”. Ending austerity, clamping down on corporate rent seeking and harnessing finance to support job creation and infrastructure investment will be key to such a makeover.<br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/fdecomite/2183144613/in/set-72157603650204278/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Photo credit: Flickr user fdecomit</a><br />
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Thu, 02 Nov 2017 15:44:00 -0400Roxanne BauerWeekly wire: The global forumhttp://blogs.worldbank.org/publicsphere/weekly-wire-global-forum-317
<a href="http://blogs.worldbank.org/publicsphere/files/publicsphere/weekly_wire_8.jpg" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><img alt="" height="178" src="http://blogs.worldbank.org/publicsphere/files/publicsphere/weekly_wire_8.jpg" style="padding:2px; border:1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); border-image:none; vertical-align:bottom; max-width:none; float:right" title="" width="180" /></a><strong>These are some of the views and reports relevant to our readers that caught our attention this week.</strong><br />
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<strong><a href="https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/capital-projects-and-infrastructure/our-insights/navigating-the-digital-future-the-disruption-of-capital-projects" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Navigating the digital future: The disruption of capital projects</a></strong></div>
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<strong>McKinsey &amp; Company</strong></div>
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Productivity in the construction sector has stagnated for decades, with the average capital project reaching completion 20 months behind schedule and 80 percent over budget. Some overruns result from increased project complexity and scale, but another factor also looms large: all stakeholders in the capital-projects ecosystem—project owners, contractors, and subcontractors—have resisted adopting digital tools and platforms. These include advanced analytics, automation, robotics, 5-D building information modeling (BIM), and online document-management or data-collection systems. Meanwhile, companies in sectors ranging from government to manufacturing have significantly reduced costs and schedules by aggressively pursuing digital solutions.</div>
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<strong><a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2017/10/19/pollution-kills-9-million-people-each-year-new-study-finds/?utm_term=.f2fb1c1f027f" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Pollution kills 9 million people each year, new study finds</a><br />
Washington Post</strong><br />
Dirty air in India and China. Tainted water in sub-Saharan Africa. Toxic mining and smelter operations in South America. Pollution around the globe now contributes to an estimated 9 million deaths&nbsp; annually — or roughly one in six — according to an in-depth new study published Thursday in the Lancet. If accurate, that means pollution kills three times more people each year than HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria combined, with most of those deaths&nbsp; in poor and developing countries.<br />
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<strong><a href="http://citiscope.org/commentary/2017/10/localizing-sdgs-colombia-indonesia-and-kenya" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Localizing the SDGs in Colombia, Indonesia and Kenya</a><br />
Citiscope</strong><br />
We are approaching the end of year two of implementing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). In September 2015, global leaders from 193 countries set a 15-year deadline — by the year 2030 — to reach the SDGs, a roadmap to end poverty, promote equality, protect people and the planet, while leaving no one behind.<br />
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<strong><a href="https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/handle/10986/28335" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Behavioral Insights for Development : Cases from Central America</a><br />
World Bank Group Publications</strong><br />
Behavioral Insights for Development: Cases from Central America brings together a set of experiences that applied behavioral insights to different areas of public policy—in some cases through randomized control trials, and in others using surveys or behavioral games. These experiences collectively show the promise of public policies that are informed by a better understanding of what drives individual behavior.<br />
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<a href="http://www.nationalgeographic.com/magazine/2017/09/holland-agriculture-sustainable-farming/?utm_source=NatGeocom&amp;utm_medium=Email&amp;utm_content=wildscience_20170916&amp;utm_campaign=Content&amp;utm_rd=1016552052" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><strong>This Tiny Country Feeds the World</strong></a><br />
<strong>National Geographic</strong><br />
In a potato field near the Netherlands’ border with Belgium, Dutch farmer Jacob van den Borne is seated in the cabin of an immense harvester before an instrument panel worthy of the starship Enterprise.&nbsp; From his perch 10 feet above the ground, he’s monitoring two drones—a driverless tractor roaming the fields and a quadcopter in the air—that provide detailed readings on soil chemistry, water content, nutrients, and growth, measuring the progress of every plant down to the individual potato. Van den Borne’s production numbers testify to the power of this “precision farming,” as it’s known. The global average yield of potatoes per acre is about nine tons. Van den Borne’s fields reliably produce more than 20. That copious output is made all the more remarkable by the other side of the balance sheet: inputs. Almost two decades ago, the Dutch made a national commitment to sustainable agriculture under the rallying cry “Twice as much food using half as many resources.”<br />
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<strong><a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/john-cassidy/a-new-way-to-learn-economics/amp" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">A New Way to Learn Economics</a><br />
The New Yorker</strong><br />
ith the new school year starting, there is good news for incoming students of economics—and anybody else who wants to learn about issues like inequality, globalization, and the most efficient ways to tackle climate change. A group of economists from both sides of the Atlantic, part of a project called core Econ, has put together a new introductory economics curriculum, one that is modern, comprehensive, and freely available online. In this country, many colleges encourage Econ 101 students to buy (or rent) expensive textbooks, which can cost up to three hundred dollars, or even more for some hardcover editions. The core curriculum includes a lengthy e-book titled “The Economy,” lecture slides, and quizzes to test understanding. Some of the material has already been used successfully at colleges like University College London and Sciences Po, in Paris. The project is a collaborative effort that emerged after the world financial crisis of 2008–9, and the ensuing Great Recession, when many students (and teachers) complained that existing textbooks didn’t do a good job of explaining what was happening. In many countries, groups of students demanded an overhaul in how economics was taught, with less emphasis on free-market doctrines and more emphasis on real-world problems.<br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/fdecomite/2183144613/in/set-72157603650204278/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Photo credit: Flickr user fdecomit</a><br />
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Thu, 26 Oct 2017 14:21:00 -0400Roxanne BauerWeekly wire: The global forumhttp://blogs.worldbank.org/publicsphere/weekly-wire-global-forum-316
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<a href="http://blogs.worldbank.org/publicsphere/files/publicsphere/weekly_wire_8.jpg" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><img alt="" height="178" src="http://blogs.worldbank.org/publicsphere/files/publicsphere/weekly_wire_8.jpg" style="padding:2px; border:1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); border-image:none; vertical-align:bottom; max-width:none; float:right" title="" width="180" /></a><strong>These are some of the views and reports relevant to our readers that caught our attention this week.</strong><br />
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<strong><a href="https://www.economist.com/news/leaders/21721656-data-economy-demands-new-approach-antitrust-rules-worlds-most-valuable-resource?fsrc=scn/tw/te/rfd/pe" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">The world’s most valuable resource is no longer oil, but data</a></strong><br />
<strong>The Economist</strong><br />
A NEW commodity spawns a lucrative, fast-growing industry, prompting antitrust regulators to step in to restrain those who control its flow. A century ago, the resource in question was oil. Now similar concerns are being raised by the giants that deal in data, the oil of the digital era. These titans—Alphabet (Google’s parent company), Amazon, Apple, Facebook and Microsoft—look unstoppable. They are the five most valuable listed firms in the world. Their profits are surging: they collectively racked up over $25bn in net profit in the first quarter of 2017. Amazon captures half of all dollars spent online in America. Google and Facebook accounted for almost all the revenue growth in digital advertising in America last year. Such dominance has prompted calls for the tech giants to be broken up, as Standard Oil was in the early 20th century. This newspaper has argued against such drastic action in the past. Size alone is not a crime.<br />
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<strong><a href="https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/handle/10986/28337" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Pathways for Peace : Inclusive Approaches to Preventing Violent Conflicts</a></strong><br />
<strong>World Bank/United Nations</strong><br />
The resurgence of violent conflict in recent years has caused immense human suffering, at enormous social and economic cost. Violent conflicts today have become complex and protracted, involving more non-state groups and regional and international actors, often linked to global challenges from climate change to transnational organized crime. It is increasingly recognized as an obstacle to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030. This has given impetus for policy makers at all levels – from local to global – to focus on preventing violent conflict more effectively. Grounded in a shared commitment to this agenda, Pathways for Peace: Inclusive Approaches to Preventing Violent Conflict is a joint United Nations and World Bank study that looks at how development processes can better interact with diplomacy and mediation, security and other tools to prevent conflict from becoming violent.</p>
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<strong><a href="http://www.globalgoals.org/goalkeepers/datareport/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">The Stories Behind the Data</a></strong><br />
<strong>Bill &amp; Melinda Gates Foundation</strong><br />
We are launching this report this year and will publish it every year until 2030 because we want to accelerate progress in the fight against poverty by helping to diagnose urgent problems, identify promising solutions, measure and interpret key results, and spread best practices. As it happens, this report comes out at a time when there is more doubt than usual about the world’s commitment to development. In our own country, Congress is currently considering how to deal with the big cuts to foreign aid proposed in the president’s budget. A similar mood of retrenchment has taken hold in other donor countries. Meanwhile, most developing countries need to do more to prioritize the welfare of their poorest citizens. In 2015, the member states of the United Nations adopted the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which together paint a picture of what we all want the world to look like in 2030. However, if we don’t reaffirm the commitment that has led to so much progress over the past generation, that world will remain out of reach. Leaders everywhere need to take action now to put us on the path we set for ourselves just two years ago. This report tracks 18 data points included in the SDGs that we believe are fundamental to people’s health and well-being. To complement the data, we’re also telling the stories behind the numbers—about the leaders, innovations, and policies that have made the difference in countries where progress has been most significant.<br />
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<strong><a href="https://flipboard.com/@flipboard/-inside-indias-race-to-cool-13-billion-p/f-6e57f2b0e8%2Ftheverge.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">How do you cool 7.5 billion people on a warming planet?</a></strong><br />
<strong>The Verge</strong><br />
When Rutam Vora was growing up in Vadodara, a city of about 2 million people near the western coast of India, his parents kept cool each summer by drenching bedsheets in water and hanging them in the windows of their house. When the scorching westerly wind known as the loo swept in and hit the sheets, the evaporating water absorbed the brunt of the heat. White chalk spread on the roof reflected the sun and dropped the temperature further. They were old methods of coping with the heat, like drinking lassis or chaas when “struck by the loo,” and they were effective. But the weather, already hot, has been getting hotter. In the summer of 2015, it hit 114 degrees Fahrenheit in nearby Ahmedabad, where Vora works as a correspondent for The Hindu. The next summer, it passed 122 degrees, a record. It’s not uncommon for people to wrap their faces in wet cloth when venturing onto the furnace-like streets, and the wind is so hot it feels heavy. “For about a decade, the temperature has been going up,” Vora said. “But now, the last couple summers have been extreme, going beyond normal, bearable conditions.” Earlier this year, Vora’s mother came down with a bacterial infection, and part of the doctor’s prescription was to stay cool. When the meteorological department warned of yet another punishing summer on the way, Vora decided it was time to buy an air conditioner.<br />
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<strong><a href="http://www.mecodem.eu/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/Drefs-Thomass-2017_Policy-Brief-Communication-and-conflict-in-transitional-societies-%E2%80%93-Integrating-media-and-communication-in-development-cooperation.pdf?utm_source=DMM+9%2F8%2F2017&amp;utm_campaign=DMM+9-8-17&amp;utm_medium=email" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Communication and conflict in transitional societies – Integrating media and communication in development cooperation</a></strong><br />
<strong>Media, Conflict, and Democratisation</strong><br />
The project ‘Media, Conflict and Democratisation’ investigates the role of traditional media and ICTs in conflicts that accompany and follow transitions from authoritarian rule to more democratic forms of government in Egypt, Kenya, Serbia and South Africa. It focuses on the three main stakeholders in those conflicts – governments, civil society actors and journalists – and aims to understand the dynamics of conflict by analysing the communications of these actors in key conflicts that highlight contested issues during transitions. This paper juxtaposes findings from the MeCoDEM project with current media development practice. By doing so, we hope to advance the ongoing discussion about the role of media development aid in volatile contexts.<br />
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<strong><a href="https://blog.bufferapp.com/social-media-history?utm_source=feedburner&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_campaign=Feed%3A+bufferapp+%28Updates+and+tips+from+Buffer%29" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Top 10 Powerful Moments That Shaped Social Media History Over the Last 20 Years</a></strong><br />
<strong>Buffer</strong><br />
Do you remember your first social media profile? Or, how about your first social media post? My first profile was on Myspace, my first friend was “Tom from Myspace,” and my first post was something like, “Myspace is awesome!” The rest is history. Social media has changed and evolved so much since the early days, it’s almost hard to believe how far we’ve come. How people use social media has changed as well. Gen Zs (now beginning to enter the workforce) only know a world with social media, compared to their counterparts – Millennials, Generation X, and Baby Boomers – who can still fondly remember back to the days of snail mail and dial-up modems! Here’s a look at 10 powerful moments that shaped the social media history. Let’s dive in!<br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/fdecomite/2183144613/in/set-72157603650204278/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Photo credit: Flickr user fdecomit</a><br />
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Thu, 21 Sep 2017 10:55:00 -0400Roxanne BauerCampaign Art: Become a citizen of the Trash Isleshttp://blogs.worldbank.org/publicsphere/campaign-art-become-citizen-trash-isles
<strong>People, Spaces, Deliberation bloggers present exceptional campaign art from all over the world. These examples are meant to inspire.</strong><br />
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<img alt="" height="220" src="https://blogs.worldbank.org/publicsphere/files/publicsphere/oceantrash2_0.jpg" style="float:right" title="" width="220" />Many of us have seen the <a href="http://www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/wildlife-photographer-of-the-year-53-preview.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">iconic photograph of a seahorse latched onto a cotton swab</a>. It’s just one example of how prevalent plastic debris is in the ocean.<br />
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Every year, hundreds of tons of plastic trash enters the ocean, splintering into smaller and smaller pieces that are often eaten by marine animals and birds. The plastic trash is everywhere It’s&nbsp;<a href="http://onemoregeneration.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/Microplastic-pollution-in-deep-sea-sediments.pdf" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">in sediments at the bottom of the ocean</a>,&nbsp;it <a href="http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0111913" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">floats at the surface</a>,&nbsp;is <a href="https://www.theverge.com/2017/5/16/15646800/henderson-island-pacific-ocean-plastic-trash-pollution" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">washed up on remote islands</a>, and&nbsp;is <a href="http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2014/05/trillions-plastic-pieces-may-be-trapped-arctic-ice" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">even frozen inside Arctic ice</a>.&nbsp; <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2016/01/20/by-2050-there-will-be-more-plastic-than-fish-in-the-worlds-oceans-study-says/?utm_term=.eb4fd9a8f7d4" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Some estimates say</a>&nbsp;that by 2050, there could be more plastic than fish in the sea.<br />
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Now,&nbsp;there’s a&nbsp;gigantic <a href="https://www.nationalgeographic.org/encyclopedia/great-pacific-garbage-patch/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">mass of plastic waste</a>&nbsp;the size of France floating in the Pacific Ocean. To call attention to it, the environmental charity <a href="https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&amp;rct=j&amp;q=&amp;esrc=s&amp;source=web&amp;cd=1&amp;cad=rja&amp;uact=8&amp;ved=0ahUKEwjZ6ce6m7LWAhUB7iYKHdiNAn8QFggoMAA&amp;url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.plasticoceans.org%2F&amp;usg=AFQjCNEDvvpXQQ-fdjRw4DcYxoRNE4vioA" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Plastic Oceans Foundation</a> paired up with news and entertainment publication <a href="http://www.ladbible.com/videos/interesting-al-gore-becomes-the-first-citizen-of-the-trash-isles-20170906" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">LADBible</a>&nbsp;and TV presenter <a href="https://twitter.com/RossKemp?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Ross Kemp</a>&nbsp;to campaign to have the giant mass of trash officially recognized by the UN as a country with its own citizens, currency, flag, passport and stamps.<br />
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<a href="http://www.change.org/p/un-secretary-general-ant%C3%B3nio-guterres-accept-the-trash-isles-as-an-official-country-help-protect-our-oceans" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><img alt="" height="251" src="https://blogs.worldbank.org/publicsphere/files/publicsphere/oceantrash.jpg" style="float:right" title="" width="180" /></a>LADBible has called this emerging nation <a href="http://www.ladbible.com/trashisles" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">The Trash Isles</a>.<br />
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<a href="https://www.algore.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Al Gore</a>, who won the Nobel Peace Prize jointly with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change in 2007, is now the&nbsp;nation's&nbsp;first honorary citizen, and the Isles&nbsp;<a href="http://www.ladbiblegroup.com/Press/trash-isles/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">submitted&nbsp;an application</a> to the United Nations to be recognized as the world’s 196th country.<br />
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The campaign also has a call to action, issued as The Trash Isles Manifesto:
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Develop biodegradable materials</li>
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Introduce the carbon tax</li>
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Create laws to increase recycling</li>
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<a href="http://www.change.org/p/un-secretary-general-ant%C3%B3nio-guterres-accept-the-trash-isles-as-an-official-country-help-protect-our-oceans" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">You can join </a>the more than 100,000 people who have already signed the petition to be granted citizenship become a Trash Isles citizen.</p>
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The project is the idea of advertising&nbsp;<a href="http://www.dalandmike.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">creatives,&nbsp;</a>Michael Hughes and Dalatando Almeida, and designer Mario Kerkstra who helped create a flag, a passport, currency (called debris), and stamps.<br />
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Even if the Trash Isles fails in its attempt to be officially recognized, the campaign does raise awareness of the&nbsp;<a href="https://qz.com/987468/removing-plastics-from-the-oceans-is-not-environmentalism-its-good-business/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">growing problem</a>. Alongside the garbage patch in the north Pacific, researchers found&nbsp;<a href="http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2017/07/ocean-plastic-patch-south-pacific-spd/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">another patch forming</a>&nbsp;in the south Pacific in July of this year.</p>
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Trash Isles </strong>
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Tue, 19 Sep 2017 18:16:00 -0400Roxanne BauerWeekly wire: The global forumhttp://blogs.worldbank.org/publicsphere/weekly-wire-global-forum-315
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<a href="http://blogs.worldbank.org/publicsphere/files/publicsphere/weekly_wire_8.jpg" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><img alt="" height="178" src="http://blogs.worldbank.org/publicsphere/files/publicsphere/weekly_wire_8.jpg" style="padding:2px; border:1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); border-image:none; vertical-align:bottom; max-width:none; float:right" title="" width="180" /></a><strong>These are some of the views and reports relevant to our readers that caught our attention this week.</strong><br />
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<strong><a href="http://news.mit.edu/2017/mit-researchers-identify-opportunities-to-improve-quality-reduce-cost-global-food-assistance-0913" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Researchers identify opportunities to improve quality, reduce cost of global food assistance delivery</a></strong><br />
<strong>MIT</strong><br />
Food assistance delivered to the right people at the right time and in the right place can save lives. In 2016 alone, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) delivered over 1.7 million metric tons of food assistance to over 30 million people in 50 countries around the world. However, USAID estimates that over $10 million of that food never made it to the plates of people in need due to spoilage and infestation. Proper food assistance packaging can be a major contributing factor toward preventing spoilage and infestation. The right kind of packaging can also reduce the need for costly fumigation — which also has the potential to harm human and environmental health if misapplied — and diversify the types of commodities that can be shipped to communities in need, improving recipient satisfaction and nutrition. MIT researchers have just released a new report detailing an experimental study examining how different packaging approaches and technologies can reduce cost and improve quality of food assistance procured in the United States and shipped abroad.<br />
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<strong><a href="https://qz.com/1042994/an-ad-supported-internet-isnt-going-to-be-sustainable-in-emerging-markets/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">An ad-supported internet isn’t going to be sustainable in emerging markets</a></strong><br />
<strong>Quartz</strong><br />
Can you imagine an internet without advertisements? It’s difficult. Since the web’s genesis, advertising has been the reigning business model. The vast majority of online content and services — from entertainment and journalism to search engines and email — are supported by banners, displays, and leaderboards. Today, two of the world’s largest companies—Google and Facebook—earn the bulk of their revenue through advertising. Put simply: The phrase “ad-supported internet” can seem redundant. But as the internet expands into emerging economies like Nigeria, Kenya and Rwanda, this may no longer be the case. As billions more digital citizens connect this decade, a critical question arises: Does the internet’s current business model work in newly-connected regions?</p>
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<strong><a href="https://www.vox.com/explainers/2017/7/19/15925506/psychic-numbing-paul-slovic-apathy" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">A psychologist explains the limits of human compassion</a></strong><br />
<strong>Vox</strong><br />
There are now 65.3 million people displaced from their homes worldwide, the United Nations reports. It’s an all-time high: likely the largest population of refugees and asylum seekers in human history. Think about that number: 65.3 million. Can you even imagine it? Like, really imagine it. When we see one life, we can imagine their hopes and pain. But 65 million? You can’t. That’s just an abstraction. There’s a hard limit to human compassion, and it’s one of the most powerful psychological forces shaping human events. I often report on political psychology. And in my conversations with scientists, I’ll often ask: “What research helps you understand what’s going on in the world?” The answer — whether it’s pegged to the refugee crisis abroad or the health care debate at home — very often involves Paul Slovic. Slovic is a psychologist at the University of Oregon, and for decades he’s been asking the question: Why does the world often ignore mass atrocities, mass suffering? Slovic’s work has shown that the human mind is not very good at thinking about, and empathizing with, millions or billions of individuals.<br />
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<strong><a href="http://voxdev.org/topic/public-economics/lives-and-times-civil-servants-developing-world" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">The lives and times of civil servants in the developing world</a></strong><br />
<strong>VoxDev</strong><br />
Insights into the lives and experiences of civil servants in developing countries: The characteristics of a nation’s institutions have long been regarded as fundamental to national development. Appropriately designed public institutions are increasingly seen as key to prosperity (North 1990, Finer 1999, Acemoglu et al. 2005, World Bank 2017). But who are the people that work in these institutions? What is their experience of being a public official in a developing country? In recent research, I brought together surveys of civil servants – the professional body of administrators who manage government policy – from across the developing world to provide micro-evidence on life inside government (Rogger 2017).<br />
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<strong><a href="https://www.cgdev.org/blog/results-based-payments-reduce-deforestation" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Results-Based Payments to Reduce Deforestation</a></strong><br />
<strong>Center for Global Development</strong><br />
If tropical deforestation were a country, it would rank third after China and the United States as a source of emissions. Currently a large part of the problem, forests can be an even bigger part of the solution because trees offer the potential to achieve negative emissions. For example, ending tropical deforestation and allowing damaged forests to recover could reduce global net emissions by up to 30 percent. The 2015 Paris agreement recognises the importance of forests in achieving climate goals. The agreement incorporates a framework of reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (Redd+). The “plus” connotes the enhancement of forest carbon stocks. Here are three reasons why Redd+ is a valuable tool in the fight against climate change.<br />
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<a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jcom.12327/abstract;jsessionid=38F5C2D3190911F42E8B023BB6AD9FA9.f02t01" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><strong>Still an Agenda Setter: Traditional News Media and Public Opinion During the Transition From Low to High Choice Media Environments</strong></a><br />
<strong>Journal of Communication </strong><br />
This study analyzes whether the agenda-setting influence of traditional news media has become weaker over time—a key argument in the “new era of minimal effects” controversy. Based on media content and public opinion data collected in Sweden over a period of 23 years (1992–2014), we analyze both aggregate and individual-level agenda-setting effects on public opinion concerning 12 different political issues. Taken together, we find very little evidence that the traditional news media has become less influential as agenda setters. Rather, citizens appear as responsive to issue signals from the collective media agenda today as during the low-choice era. We discuss these findings in terms of cross-national differences in media systems and opportunity structures for selective exposure.<br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/fdecomite/2183144613/in/set-72157603650204278/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Photo credit: Flickr user fdecomit</a><br />
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Thu, 14 Sep 2017 14:50:00 -0400Roxanne BauerWeekly wire: The global forumhttp://blogs.worldbank.org/publicsphere/weekly-wire-global-forum-314
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<a href="http://blogs.worldbank.org/publicsphere/files/publicsphere/weekly_wire_8.jpg" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><img alt="" height="178" src="http://blogs.worldbank.org/publicsphere/files/publicsphere/weekly_wire_8.jpg" style="padding:2px; border:1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); border-image:none; vertical-align:bottom; max-width:none; float:right" title="" width="180" /></a><strong>These are some of the views and reports relevant to our readers that caught our attention this week.</strong><br />
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<strong><a href="http://www.itu.int/en/sustainable-world/Pages/report-hlpf-2017.aspx" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Fast-forward progress: Leveraging tech to achieve the global goals</a></strong><br />
<strong>ITU</strong><br />
The UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) adopted in 2015 invite global action by 2030 in three overarching areas: end poverty, combat climate change and fight injustice and inequality. Today we see ICT as a powerful enabler for each of the 17 goals, and an essential catalyst in driving rapid transformation of nearly every aspect of our lives.<br />
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<strong><a href="https://www.cgdev.org/publication/commitment-development-index-2017" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">The Commitment to Development Index 2017</a></strong><br />
<strong>Center for Global Development</strong><br />
The Commitment to Development Index ranks 27 of the world's richest countries on policies that affect more than five billion people living in poorer nations. Because development is about more than foreign aid, the Index covers seven distinct policy areas: Aid, Finance, Technology, Environment, Trade, Security, Migration. Why does Commitment to Development matter? In our integrated world, decisions made by rich countries about their own policies and behaviour have repercussions for people in developing nations. At the same time, greater prosperity and security in poorer countries benefit the whole world. They create new economic opportunities, increase innovation, and help reduce risks posed by public health, security, and economic crises. The Commitment to Development Index (CDI) celebrates countries whose policies benefit not only themselves, but also the development of others, and promote our common good.&nbsp;</p>
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<strong><a href="http://www.unhcr.org/globaltrends2016/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Global Trends Report: Forced Displacement in 2016</a></strong><br />
<strong>UNHCR</strong><br />
Over the past two decades, the global population of forcibly displaced people has grown substantially from 33.9 million in 1997 to 65.6 million in 2016, and it remains at a record high (see Figure 1). Most of this increase was concentrated between 2012 and 2015, driven mainly by the Syrian conflict. But this rise also was due to other conflicts in the region such as in Iraq and Yemen, as well as in sub-Saharan Africa including Burundi, the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, South Sudan, and Sudan. The increase of recent years has led to a major increase in displacement: from about 1 in 160 people a decade ago to 1 in 113 today. Although still at a record high at the end of 2016, the growth in the number of people who have been forcibly displaced has slowed for the first time in recent years. However, large numbers of people were on the move in 2016 and affected by forced displacement, with many people newly displaced as well as large numbers of returning refugees and IDPs.<br />
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<strong><a href="http://blogs.worldbank.org/voices/five-ted-talks-inspired-me" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Five TED Talks that inspired me</a></strong><br />
<strong>Voices WB blog post by Jim Yong Kim</strong><br />
This April, I had the honor of delivering a TED Talk in Vancouver, Canada. TED Talks aim to inspire and spread ideas, and this year’s theme – The Future Us – explored what lies ahead for the world.&nbsp; Artificial intelligence, robotics, and other technological advances hold great promise, but these changes are coming at break-neck speed. I’m afraid many of us aren’t ready. There’s still too much poverty and inequality in the world, and we have a lot of work to provide opportunities for everyone.&nbsp; A grave concern is that millions, or potentially billions, of poor people could be left behind as we enter a new industrial age. Too many people in developing countries lack access to quality education, nutrition, health care, and the opportunity to reach their potential. Yet, their aspirations for a better life are rising. We must find ways to help our clients meet these aspirations or risk more frustration, migration, and conflict. In a nutshell, this is what I talked about on the TED stage. To prepare, I watched a number of other TED Talks by World Bank Group colleagues and alumni, scientists, authors, economists, and technologists.<br />
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<strong><a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/monkey-cage/wp/2017/08/13/these-3-barriers-make-it-hard-for-policymakers-to-use-the-evidence-that-development-researchers-produce/?utm_term=.01e1212cdc4c&amp;wpisrc=nl_az_most&amp;wpmk=1" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">These 3 barriers make it hard for policymakers to use the evidence that development researchers produce</a></strong><br />
<strong>Washington Post</strong><br />
In international development, the “evidence revolution” has generated a surge in policy research over the past two decades. We now have a clearer idea of what works and what doesn’t. In India, performance pay for teachers works: students in schools where bonuses were on offer got significantly higher test scores. In Kenya, charging small fees for malaria bed nets doesn’t work — and is actually less cost-effective than free distribution. The American Economic Association’s registry for randomized controlled trials now lists 1,287 studies in 106 countries, many of which are testing policies that very well may be expanded. But can policymakers put this evidence to use?<br />
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<strong><a href="https://qz.com/1024546/stop-blaming-poor-countries-poverty-on-corruption-sometimes-its-just-bad-luck/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Stop blaming poor countries’ poverty on corruption—sometimes it’s just bad luck</a></strong><br />
<strong>Quartz</strong><br />
There was a time when the predominant view worldwide as to why poor people and countries were poor involved the circumstances they were in—they lacked the money for the roads, factories, and power that would spur industrialization, or the education and healthcare that would make them productive. But, in the rich world at least, views have shifted. Now it is a commonplace argument that the reason poor countries are poor is because of the moral failings of the people who live there—governance that doesn’t work, perhaps driven by a “culture of corruption.” More than half of respondents in the UK suggested in a recent poll that that the single most important reason poor countries are poor is because of corrupt governments. That view of developing countries—and the implied moral superiority of richer countries—is corrosive. Just as “they are lazy” is a justification to slash domestic welfare programs, “they are corrupt” justifies opposing aid or trade reform that might improve prospects for the global poor. And it doesn’t hold up to scrutiny.<br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/fdecomite/2183144613/in/set-72157603650204278/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Photo credit: Flickr user fdecomit</a><br />
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Thu, 07 Sep 2017 09:28:00 -0400Roxanne Bauer